Hearing set for Save Atascadero's appeal of Walmart ruling

An appellate court will hear arguments later this month on whether the city of Atascadero violated state environmental laws when it approved construction of a Walmart-anchored shopping center and adjacent development.

Anna Pence and other Walmart supporters wave fans handed out by Walmart to show support for the project at the June 26, 2012, Atascadero City Council meeting. Later in the evening, the council approved the project.
jjohnston@thetribunenews.com

An appellate court will hear arguments later this month on whether the city of Atascadero violated state environmental laws when it approved construction of a Walmart-anchored shopping center and adjacent development.

The hearing is set to take place 9:30 a.m. May 30 at the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors chambers, 1055 Monterey St. in San Luis Obispo.

Justices with the state Court of Appeal in Ventura will hear the case as part of a regularly scheduled visit to San Luis Obispo County to hear several local cases, according to that court’s clerk office.

A group called Save Atascadero spearheaded by city residents Tom Comar and Lee Perkins brought the lawsuit against the city in 2012 in an attempt to require further study of the developments’ impacts to the area.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other service firms associated with the projects are named as parties of interest in the lawsuit, but they are not defendants.

The lawsuit centers around costly road improvements associated with building the shopping centers at the corner of El Camino Real and Del Rio Road, as well as the potential risk of cancer-causing air pollution from increased traffic in the area.

In 2013, a San Luis Obispo Superior Court judge ruled that the city wasn't in violation, and Save Atascadero appealed the ruling.